It has been announced today that Dante Servin has chosen to resign from the Chicago Police Department instead of facing an evidentiary hearing for the 2012 killing of Rekia Boyd. While this serves as a relief for the sake of both Rekia Boyd’s family and the larger Chicago community, it is also indicative of an unsurprising tactic by Servin to escape accountability.

The recent success of the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit demanding the release of the Chicago Independent Police Review Authority (IPRA) investigative files on Dante Servin is further evidence of this movement’s commitment to ensure police accountability. We understand that genuine civilian control of policing includes a demand for public transparency and access to information in all cases of police killings.

The upsetting and understated reality is that Black cis and trans women, girls, and femmes are still being victimized by state violence in Chicago and nationwide. The fact still remains that sexual assault is the second most reported form of police misconduct – which is disproportionately experienced by women, girls, and femmes – while excessive force is the first. Furthermore, resignation allows Servin to take up employment as a police officer in any other city or town, which still puts Black people in danger and subjects us to police violence and control. Likewise, resignation creates space for police like Servin to leave with dignity – something Servin does not deserve since he snatched Rekia’s ability to live in her full dignity. This is why police officers that murder, like Dante Servin, should not only be fired, but should have their pensions taken away as a part of accountability for their misconduct.

Dante Servin will still receive a pension that is paid for by us Chicagoans; this is unacceptable. We must now pressure the Chicago City Council to prohibit Servin from receiving a pension (from a city that claims to lack financial resources) for the murder of Rekia Boyd – a daughter, a sister, and a human being. BYP100 believes that we can create a world, absent of police, that is safe for Black women and girls and we will continue to pursue those goals. #SayHerName

Join BYP100, Black Lives Matter Network, Project South, Ferguson Action and activists nationwide in taking direct action to end state violence against ALL Black women (trans and cis), girls, and femmes on May 19th. Sign up at: www.byp100.org/sayhername16

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BYP100 is an activist member-based organization of Black 18-35 year olds, dedicated to creating justice and freedom for all Black people. We do our work through a Black queer feminist lens. www.byp100.org | @BYP_100 | www.facebook.com/BYP100